Exotic flowers in bloom at annual Pacific Orchid Expo

ORCHIDS ARE more than pretty flowers. Each one tells part of the story about how these plants have adapted to an incredible array of native environments.

For some of Todd Kennedy's orchids, the story also includes a bit of his own history.

Kennedy, who lives in San Francisco, inherited about 150 orchid plants from his parents, some of which still bloom for him today. The family first acquired orchids in 1939, Kennedy says. His mother enjoyed painting them from real life.

"They were hard to get," he says. "My grandparents had a greenhouse with what was available then." They lived in Los Gatos.

Although some orchids are natives of the Bay Area, most were rare and expensive 75 years ago.

In 1946, Kennedy's parents and other orchid fanciers founded the Peninsula Orchid Society to help one another learn to grow and propagate the plants.

The group's annual fundraiser features orchids grown by society members as well as commercially grown plants. The easygoing show, featuring about 300 plants from the society's members, also presents seminars on the history and care of orchids.

While the Peninsula Orchid Society's event is billed as the Bay Area's most manageable show, the San Francisco Orchid Society's February exposition at Fort Mason Center is described as "the largest in the nation."

It will feature more than 150,000 orchids from around the world, plus docent tours, educational seminars, competitions and a flower sale.

The 62nd annual Pacific Orchid Exposition, coming from Feb. 20 to 23, includes an opening gala that benefits the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers and the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley.

With this year's theme, "Orchids and All That Jazz," attendees will find some New Orleans touches, says Frances Larose, the event's promotional director.

The show is sponsored by the tourism board of Taiwan, the world's leading exporter of orchids.

"The reason we are the largest show is in the country is, in part, because we have so many microclimates," Larose says. "Whatever the climate, there is an orchid that will grow well there."

The huge differences in orchid varieties stem from the species' ability to adapt to a wide range of climates and locations, from the Bay Area to the tropics.

Among the orchids native to our region is the 2-foot-tall Epipactis gigantea, commonly called the stream orchid. As the name implies, it can be found along creeks and rivers where there's plenty of fresh water.

Other varieties can differ greatly. "There are species of orchids that are found in just one canyon in the Andes, for instance," Kennedy says. "They are specialized for a particular (type of) hummingbird to pollinate."

That the plants have adapted to locations so varied, but also can be grown at Bay Area homes, is part of their attraction, enthusiasts say.

The opportunity to learn about orchids, either from the grower or in a seminar, is one element that makes this weekend's show an experience that can't be duplicated at a grocery store. Information covered will include whether the growing space should resemble a cold mountainside, a humid marshland or something in between — knowledge that's essential to the successful flowering of the plant.

"Some of them are delicate, and some are very, very hardy," Langland says. "The challenge is finding out which ones you can grow" in your own home, garden or greenhouse.

Orchid fans don't need a lot of space to achieve spectacular results, provided they choose the right variety. And with knowledge and patience, any grower can begin to add a bit of his own narrative to the orchid story.

"It is a wonderful thing that something so highly evolved is available to humans," Kennedy says. "You buy them, and they will bloom for you over and over." All it takes, he says, is knowledge of the plant's needs for even a novice to succeed: Keep the jungle orchids in a humid spot, the grassland orchid in a drier spot.

"There is reason for the wonder and amazement of being able to have these beautiful flowers," Kennedy says.